


ASL Reborn

by skye113



Category: One Piece
Genre: Brotherly Love, Fluff, Nakamaship, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-10-25 07:53:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17721164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skye113/pseuds/skye113
Summary: Ace is on the Moby and has staked his pride on defeating Whitebeard. When he loses, he didn't expect to be kidnapped. However, things are much more complicated than they seem. Ace struggles to juggle his dream, his heritage, the apparent revival of a dead brother, and everything else in between.***No longer posting on this site, if interested view on Fanfiction.net***





	1. Chapter 1

How am I still this far from the top?

Ace was staring at the ceiling of a random storage room on the Moby, flagship of the Whitebeard pirates.

Whitebeard.

One of the four Emperors of the sea and the strongest man in the world. Rumored to have strength equal to him.

And the person he had (stupidly, now that he thought about it), challenged six days ago, only to get swatted aside like a fly.

Kidnapped.

And…

Become my son.

Ace glared vehemently at the walls of his dim enclosure.

He was going to take Whitebeard's head. No matter what they say, no matter how much they laugh, he would do it. Accomplish his lifelong dream.

See how much they would laugh at him then.

Ace let out a quiet sigh, his ire fading as nostalgia replaced the empty space left behind.

"If you were here, you'd lecture me, wouldn't you, Sabo?" He said aloud.

But he wasn't here.

He wasn't here because he was dead, his small ship shot down by some bastard World Noble before he would ever get more than a taste often freedom he had always longed for.

Because you left him. A voice whispered in his head. You abandoned him with the parents you knew he hated. You're the reason why he's dead, gone, instead of sailing the seas.

And it was true. Even Luffy, the moron, had thought to try and get Sabo back, but he, he said that Sabo was better off being a caged bird forever.

It is all your fault. Everything is your fault.

Ace bit his lip, hard.

The world would be better off if you had died.

After Sabo had died, he had tried his best to take care of Luffy, to teach him and to get him out of trouble, because he owed Sabo that much, because that was Sabo's last wish.

flashback-

"You're supposed to hit the tree, not yourself! I told you, your stupid rubber fruit is useless!"

"No it isn't!" A childish stomp of a sandaled foot. "I am improving, right, Sabo?"

"…"

A sniffle.

"Crybaby!"

"Sabo was the nicer brother." Another sniffle.

"What do you mean, baka?!"

flashback end

If Ace had been the one to die, Sabo would have done a much better job raising Luffy. He would have been kinder to him, and wouldn't let Luffy get eaten by crocodiles or maimed by bears, and he would have taught Luffy patiently instead of getting annoyed and leaving Luffy alone.

If Ace had died, everything would have been so much better.

"Do you see the fire brat?" Fossa asked, arms crossed and looking very annoyed as he approached the Commander's table in the mess hall.

"Nope! Haven't seen him all day." Haruta said cheerfully, carefully separating the carrots from the rest of her food.

"Well, someone better tell him to stop destroying all the walls and railings on the ship!" He huffed angrily.

"It's pops that been throwing him into the walls, yoi, and Haruta, if you don't eat the carrots Thatch might ignore you for the rest of the week." Marco warned lazily, sitting down.

"Have you seen the fire brat, Mar-"

"I'm allergic to the damn things!" Haruta interrupted indignantly.

"Well, what symptoms do you have?"

"I want to throw up every time I see them." Haruta stated flatly.

"Sorry, Haruta, but that's categorized as 'severe dislike,' not allergy." Marco said patronizingly. "And I think I saw Portgas on deck a few minutes ago." He offered.

"You are not going to believe it when you see the expenses for fixing all the damage he's caused." Fossa grunted irritably.

"We've had some more stubborn brothers in the past. They all came through. Portgas may be one of the more stubborn ones but he can't be any worse than Jozu!" Thatch popped up. He took one look at Haruta's plate. "Haruta…"

"Okay, okay, I'm eating them!" She said, in a much worse mood. "I don't see why pops still keeps him around."

"A lot of our brothers weren't exactly the friendliest people when we first met them." Thatch pointed out.

"He's just insufferable." Haruta huffed. "You'd think if he had any brains he'd have realized that pops isn't even fighting him seriously, but he's still insists that he could beat pops!"

"Hey-" Izou interjected, placing his plate down.

"There is nothing likeable like him!" Haruta continued rambling.

"I wouldn't go that far, Haruta." Izou said sharply. Then, more moderately, he continued, "Oyaji does intend for Portgas to become one of our brothers. Not everything can, or should be determined at first glance."

"Yeah, yeah." Haruta rolled her eyes childishly.

"Have you finished your paperwork yet?" Izou raised an eyebrow delicately.

Dark clouds formed over many commander's heads.

"I'll take that as a no, then." He laughed. "I suggest you begin soon. I do not desire to hear your insistent complaining about losing sleep again."

"The deadline is still a week away," Haruta protested feebly, poking at her food.

"Yes, it is." Izou said agreeably. "And tomorrow, you'll tell me it's still six days away, then five, and you'll start everything when there's only two days left."

He watched with slight amusement as Haruta rolled her eyes again, shoved the last of the hated carrots in her mouth and departed from the table, presumably to start the paperwork for the twelfth division.

Then the feminine commander's thoughts turned back to the 'guest' on the ship, who made it very clear that he had no wish to be anywhere near the ship.

If Portgas was a bit more open and friendly, most of the Whitebeards would probably feel respect for his perseverance and his obvious loyalty to his crew.

Currently, his short temper, extreme paranoia and refusal to cooperate the tiniest bit combined with continual assassination attempts of their father figure led the crew to have an overall negative attitude towards the boy (yes, boy, Bay had estimated that he was barely out of his teens, if that).

Even the commanders, who strived to maintain a neutral attitude of new recruits until when they formally join (and when the Whitebeards set their sights on someone, it's only a matter of time before they cave) were having trouble this time, particularly poor Fossa, who had to repair the damage their 'guest' had caused on the ship. And Haruta, with the mood swings and recklessness that often came with youth.

Izou himself had had a few encounters with the captain of the Spade pirates, and he had to admit that Portgas was capable for his age. He had led his crew through the Grand Line and into the New World without much problem and had even been invited to join the Shichibukai. (A lot of his crewmates had been impressed when he refused).

He would make an interesting brother when he joined

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I am Skye, and this is my 3rd fanfiction! This is actually a rewrite, because my first story was pretty messy and all over the place... Well, everyone has to start from somewhere, I guess.  
> I hope you guys enjoyed!  
> This is cross posted on ff.net


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm going to be a pirate when I grow up! I'll show everyone that I'm more than just his son!"

"Yeah! We'll be the freest pirates alive."

"You can join my crew, Sabo."

"Hey, you two are joining my crew! The crew of the future King of the Pirates needs you!"

"Dream on, Luffy. There is not way I'm working under you."

"Let's set sail at seventeen, and live the way we wanna live!"  
___

"Hey, is he okay?"

"Yeah, did pops hit him too hard this time?"

"Someone poke him!"

"Do it yourself! I don't want to get burned!"

"What's going on?" Marco approached the crowd gathered around the deck.

"Commander, I think there's something wrong with Fire Fist." Someone piped up.

"Something wrong with him, yoi?" Marco tried to get a look but had to push through a lot of people standing in the way.

"Yeah, he's just… Lying there?"

"Lying there…?"

Ace was sprawled on the floor, the most relaxed the pirates had ever seen him.

Whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, Marco couldn't decide.

"How did this… Happen?"

"Pops threw him into a wall. Usually he just gets up and leaves, right?"

"Yeah."

"He's not dead, right?"

"Well, he is pretty weak."

"Stronger than you!"

"Hey, he's waking up!"

___

In truth, Ace had had the misfortune of having a narcolepsy attack and was waking up in a relatively good mood because of a pleasant dream.

He heard a voice. "Shut up, Dadan, Mogra." He said sleepily.

Silence.

The whispers started again.

"What did he say?"

"So he isn't dead…"

"Of course not!"

Ace opened his eyes in annoyance at the commotion. The words he had been prepared to say died in his mouth.

He had thought he was safe, at home for a moment, but saw instead the faces of people he hated.

With a growl he got up and shoved his way through the pirates, in a much fouler mood than before.

I have a family.

I don't need you all to care.

I don't need a father.

"What's with him?" A pirate asked his companion. "What a jerk."

"Yeah." Another muttered his agreement.

"What did pops see in him?"

Marco frowned. "Everyone, go back to your work, yoi." He ordered in annoyance.

I was like that before, too, wasn't I?

___

"It's snowing!" Haruta squealed. "Snow! Snowballs! Snowmen! Snow sculptures! Hot chocolate!"

"Why does everything but 'hot chocolate' start with snow?" Jiru muttered.

"Because it's snowing!" Haruta looked like she was about to burst out of her short form in excitement. "And hot chocolate is awesome!"

"How old is she again?" Fossa whispered.

"Nobody tell Thatch. He's almost just as bad." Curiel joined in.

"Too late." Jiru said grimly.

"Haruta!" The pompadoured cook called out. "Snowball fight?"

"Hot chocolate!" She countered.

"After." He compromised.

Soon, any brave souls venturing across or near the sectioned of portion of the deck was liable to be hit in the face with multiple snowballs while the fierce competition between the fourth and twelfth divisions raged on. (They were roped into it).

At one point Ace managed to accidentally wander into the forbidden area but didn't seem to notice when snowballs hit him because they promptly melted and/or evaporated.

This quickly caught the attention of both ringleaders of the impromptu 'Snowball Tournament.'

"Ace!"

"Huh?" Ace was startled.

"Join us!"

"Join you…?" He asked in bewilderment, too caught off guard to reply properly.

"That's not fair!" Haruta shouted from her side of the deck. "He's fire, he'll melt all of the snow!"

Thatch ignored her. "Can you just stand here for a second?"

"Uh? Okay?" He didn't see the difference between thinking where he had been before and where he was now.

And thus, with a fire-man in the middle, all of the snowballs twelfth division threw melted when they got near.

Ace didn't notice until something whizzed pass his head and miraculously escaped close proximity with him relatively intact.

"Seriously? That's why you asked me to stand here?"

"It's perfect!" Thatch boasted triumphantly.

"But if you try to throw the snowballs at them they'll melt, too."

"Ah…" There was a wench in his plans now. "Could you move aside?"

Ace shrugged. "Sure, why not." And he wandered away.

Ten minutes later, Haruta went to her room to get multiple snowballs melting in her hair out of her hair looking extremely annoyed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this week I will be speed posting chapters (up to 6) because I want to get this caught up with updates in ff.net. Please know that this is not my usual posting schedule! I updates are sometimes once a week, but also can be once per month. It depends on my general mood, ideas and of course, amount of schoolwork. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

"Rubber is a stupid devil fruit!"

"Nu-uh! It's awesome!"

A scoff. "It's totally useless. You can't even hit someone without hitting yourself in the face."

"I will be able to and then I'll beat you!" He stomped his foot childishly.

"Dream on."

"Ooh! It's a devil fruit! Eat it, Ace!"

"No way."

"But I wanna call your fruit stupid too!"

"If I eat it who'll save you when you fall into the ocean, baka?"

"I don't need anyone to save me! Just watch, one day I'll save your ass!"

"Uh huh."

"Just eat it!" He whined.

"Nope. You eat it."

"Can't. Shanks said so."

"Why not?"

He scrunched up his forehead. "Uh...I forgot."

"Then you can eat it."

"Nope! Shanks said not to."

"Well, then…"

"Just eat it! Shanks says it makes you stronger!"

"..."

"It's disgusting." Ace choked.

"Oh. Right. They taste really bad. If you drank some milk it'll be better." Luffy nodded emphatically.

"You tell me that now?"

"I forgot!"

"So, what do you think my fruit is?"

"Dunno."

"Hmmm. How did you find out you were rubber?"

"Shanks grabbed my arm as I was walking away."

"Hmmm. Well. Okay."  
___

"Marine ship at two o'clock!" The lookout shouted from the crows nest, spurring most of the crew into action.

"We haven't had a decent fight in ages!"

"Do you think they are still here to take pop's head? They should have given up by now, right?" Boisterous laughing.

"Oyaji! The cannons are ready."

"Hey, the marines are signaling for parley!"

"Commander Marco, should we fire?"

"Let's see what they have to say, yoi."

"Any idea where Fire Fist is?" Jozu rumbled.

"No. He doesn't usually show up too often, except when trying to kill pops, of course."

The marine ship got gradually closer, but neither side made any move to attack the other.

Whitebeard was sitting on his throne, watching the marines on the ship scurry back and forth. The commanders were surrounding him.

"What do you think they want, pops?" Haruta asked.

"We will have to wait and see."

When the marine ship and the Moby was side by side, the commanding officer- a Rear Admiral, who looked like he would much rather be fighting them, cleared his throat. "We have no intentions of attack you." The words sounded strangled.

"It wouldn't bother us if you did." Thatch said, stroking the hilt of his swords.

"We are simply here to make an inquiry and possibly deliver a message."

"A message, yoi?"

He nodded. "Is Fire-Fist Ace on your ship?"

There was a stunned silence.

"Why?" Vista asked cautiously. He couldn't fathom why the marines would be interested in that though since Spade Pirates challenging them had been common knowledge, it made sense that the marines would ask them.

"The message is meant for him."

"He isn't." Haruta chimed in. "You can look somewhere else."

At this moment, Ace chose to wander back on deck to ask Marco a question.

"What's with the huge crowd?" He muttered, shoving his way through various pirates. "Have you seen Marco?" He asked a random pirate.

"Yeah, he's with pops."

"Why is everyone crowded around the deck?"

The same pirate answered. "There's a marine battleship."

Ace didn't hear him as he was busy shoving his way to Whitebeard's throne.

"Marco-" He paused as he took in the scene, raising an eyebrow.

The marines looked confused as to why one of the commanders had seemingly lied, Haruta was furious, and the rest of the pirates were amused/confused/didn't care/other.

"Here!" The Rear Admiral tossed a package to him and hightailed it out of there.

That left Ace, who caught the package, looking bewildered. "Huh?"

"Ace, dear, do you know anyone in the marines?" Izou asked carefully, fanning himself.

"Yea- No. I mean there was this marine that kept on chasing me, does that count?"

No one answered him.

Ace began examining the package. He shook it back and forth, the first step to identifying possibly dangerou- interesting, he corrected, things an anonymous person had kindly sent him.

He had an inkling on which person/people had blackmailed a marine of all people to delivering a package to the him, on the flagship of the Whitebeard pirates, but he could consider that later.

Something rattled inside the bag.

"Hmmm." He looked the bag over and discovered a bunch of letters attached. He was about to eagerly tear the letters open when he realized exactly where he was.

When he looked up, there were a lot of pirates that were trying to inconspicuously take peek at what he was doing that scratched their heads guilty and promptly looked away when he saw them.

To maintain some semblance of privacy he moved closer to the mast, where there were less pirates gathered.

He could hear the commanders breaking up the crowd.

"Alright guys, the show's over, get back to work."

He relaxed and opened the first letter.

It was not signed, and simply read

A sword is a swordsman's soul.

He knew exactly who that was, and now had a good guess on why the package was so long.

There was also numbers scrawled on the bottom of the short note, which he examined curiously before moving on.

My dearest brother-in-law… was written in elegant script.

Ace groaned in annoyance. Seriously, this woman… when was she going to realize that Luffy had no intention to marry her? He was only 15!

The letter was extremely lengthy, and Ace decided to move on, making a mental note to read it later.

He was delighted to find a letter from Makino.

Ace, we all saw your newest bounty poster. Congratulations on becoming a great pirate! Dadan always goes on and on about you latest actions. She cares for you much more than you might realize. We were worried when we didn't get any news for awhile, and then news that you challenged Whitebeard, but Garp-san assure us you were fine. Even Dadan and Woop Slap were concerned, though they denied it, of course. Are you happy? Whatever you do, be happy. Follow your heart, and don't look back. Everyone sends you their best wishes.

Makino… Ace felt fondness for the mother figure he had met. She would always bring them clothes, cookies, teach them to read and manners and stuff, and he always was suspicious of her because if she knew he was a demon child she would hate him.. But he found out later that Dadan, the bandits and everyone in Fushia knew his heritage, but didn't care.

One place he could call home.

He moved on to a torn up piece paper with barely legible print.

Brat, stop making Makino worry about you.

Short and sweet. It wasn't signed, but it didn't need to be.

It was nice to know that Dadan cared, a bit.

Ace slowly read through all of his letters, savoring each and every word.

It was really nice to have people who remembered you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So, as you can clearly see, I'm back with chapter 3! I want to take a moment to thank everyone who read, subscribed, bookmarked, left kudos, comments, etc. Thanks!  
> I know that at the moment, things aren't looking too exciting, but that will change, I promise! Ace has no idea what's about to happen, poor kid.  
> I'll see you in the next update!  
> P. S. Would any of you want to guess who blackmailed the marine into delivering the package?


	4. Chapter 4

Occasionally, a Whitebeard pirate would look up and glance at Ace, who was smiling softly, and wondering if it was a miracle.

The commanders were gathered around their father, and were supposed to be discussing their allies but instead were spying on the fire-man and gossiping over it.

It was disturbing how pirates tended to gossip over everything, something most often used while describing schoolgirls.

"So he can smile…."

"Who do you think it's from?"

"His sweetheart!" Izou clapped.

"Seriously?"

"Do you think he'll say anything about it?"

"I've never seen him look at anything without scowling, except maybe the sea and his hat."

"The sea?"

"Yeah. He stares at it with this weird smile that looks sad but then isn't. You haven't seen?"

"Pops." Haruta walked up the their huge captain. "I'm concerned about Fire Fist."

"Oh?" The captain put down his tankard regretfully. "My daughter, what plagues you?"

"Haruta, you might not like Fire Fist as a person but you should reserve judgement for until he actually joins." Izou reprimanded softly. "Pops intends for him to become one of our brothers."

Haruta huffed. "I have no grudge against him." She protested.

"Yet, and yet. I have never seen you talk to Fire Fist, nor attempt to approach him. Even when you look at him, you never cease to glare. Whenever someone talks about him, you storm away." Izou smoothed his kimono. "All this, and you can claim that you enjoy his company?"

"Fine." Haruta grumbled. "I don't like him! I just don't. But I've never done anything except stay away from him."

"Yes." Izou agreed patiently. "So you, like most of our brothers, take one look at the prickly young man, hear him say one sentence about wanting to accomplish his dream, decide that you dislike him, and give up."

"Give up?"

"Because you never attempt to talk to him, you will never understand his thoughts. Because you never approach him, you will never gain his trust to lay his heart to you. Because you never give him a second thought, the impression you have of him as an arrogant, overconfident rookie stays, and never changes." Izou let out a sigh and turned to face the sea, and noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ace had disappeared.

"If you dislike someone, you stay away from them." Haruta said stubbornly. "I refuse to constantly be with someone I am uncomfortable with."

"When Jozu first joined, did you like him?"

"But he hasn't joined!"

"The fact that he hasn't does not mean he never will." Izou sighed. "Think about it."

Whitebeard watched their exchange with slight concern in his eyes. He resolved to think about it later when the argument ended and Haruta turned her attention back to him.

"Pops, I'm being strictly professional here, but the fact that Fire Fist got mail, and a package with unknown items inside delivered by a marine Rear Admiral and his battleship, this doesn't raise any questions?"

"Portgas was invited to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea." Izou nodded. "But he refused. They might have covered it up, but there is little chance of coming back from something like that."

"But still, his relationship with the marines is questionable."

"There is no way he's a marine spy." Thatch said bluntly. "For one, he can't lie to save his life. Half the things he's done has given the World Government heart attacks. And the bounty. Nothing about Ace screams marine."

"He would make an unusual marine." Whitebeard nodded.

"He isn't!" Thatch argued hotly.

"I didn't say he was a marine," Haruta looked annoyed. "Just that he has connections to the marines."

"There's a difference?"

"Duh! People like the Warlords have connections to the marines, but aren't necessarily marines themselves!"

"Oh. Well, that makes sense, I guess…"

"I'm not saying that you all should suddenly become suspicious of Portgas, just that we might want to look into it." Haruta concluded seriously.

I don't trust him, but pops does… Portgas D. Ace, I will give you the benefit of doubt. Should you betray our trust I will not hesitate to kill you.

\----  
Ace's world was crashing down on his head.

A piece of paper was crumbled in his clenched fist.

This cannot be happening.

He was grateful that whoever had written the warning (judging by the handwriting, Hancock, who was pretty annoying but had heart, he supposed), so he wouldn't have had a nervous breakdown in front of everyone on the deck.

Save this for last. Make sure to read it alone.

He was seeing flashes- memories, memories he had buried to the back of his mind and rarely revisited.

If it was true…

Did Luffy know? Did Makino and Dadan?

Did Rayleigh know?

He should. Gramps would have given him a heads up or something…

Shitty brat. I'm going to warn you- don't get your hopes up, but the marines have gotten some intelligence on the Revolutionary Army lately. More specifically, about their new Chief of Staff. His name is, of all things, Sabo. Do you still remember, Ace? Years ago, when his ship was shot down I knew my shitty son was nearby! If this is true, and he rescued the other brat, and this brat we've heard rumors of is Sabo… He has amnesia. He doesn't remember anything. Don't go and cause me any more headaches, shitty brat.

\---  
Could it be true?

Don't get your hopes up.

It was too much of a coincidence.

He doesn't remember anything.

He forgot. He forgot.

I knew my shitty son was nearby!

We mourned him. All of us.

Do you still remember?

How could I ever forget?

If this is true...

If he's alive…

We need to find him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is when everything begins to change! (laughs manically)  
> Ace hasn't been on the ship for very long but he's been warming up to the Whitebeards. Still having his assassination attempts, but overall, his attitude towards the crew is much warmer. This slight shift in personalty can be blamed on a altered childhood, which I have dropped hints about. However, the entire tale will be revealed later  
> Much later.  
> But there's a storm brewing, and lots of things are going to be involved!  
> Thanks so much for all of the kudos and comments and subscribes, please keep it up!  
> See you all in the next update!


End file.
